Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia prostrata

Clarkia davyi

prostrate clarkia

Davy's clarkia, Davy's fairyfan, davyi's clarkia
Stems

prostrate or decumbent, to 50 cm, sparsely puberulent.

prostrate or decumbent, to 90 cm, sparsely puberulent.
Leaves

sessile or subsessile;

blade oblanceolate to elliptic, 1–2.5 cm, apex usually obtuse.

sessile or subsessile;

blade oblanceolate to broadly elliptic or obovate, 1–2.5 cm, apex usually obtuse.
Inflorescences

prostrate, dense racemes, axis straight;

buds erect.

open racemes, axis straight;

buds erect.
Flowers

floral tube 4–7 mm;

sepals usually reflexed in pairs;

corolla bowl-shaped, petals lavender-pink shading pale yellow basally, with reddish purple spot above base, 10–15 mm;

stamens 8, subequal;

ovary 8-grooved;

stigma not exserted beyond anthers.

floral tube 2–5 mm;

sepals reflexed in pairs or individually;

corolla bowl-shaped, petals lavender-pink shading white or pale yellow basally, unspotted, 5–11 mm;

stamens 8, subequal;

ovary 8-grooved;

stigma not exserted beyond anthers.
Capsules

20–30 mm.

15–25 mm.
Seeds

brown or gray, 1–1.5 mm, scaly, crest 0.2 mm.

brown or gray, 1 mm, scaly, crest inconspicuous.
2n

= 52.

= 34.

Clarkia prostrata

Clarkia davyi
Phenology Flowering May–Jul. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Coastal bluffs in grasslands and closed-cone pine forests. Grasslands, low sea bluffs.
Elevation 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Clarkia prostrata, like C. davyi, occurs only on coastal bluffs and adjacent low elevation pine forests along the Pacific coast, and in this case only in the California Central Coast Subregion in Monterey, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and San Luis Obispo counties.

Clarkia prostrata is a hexaploid that combines the tetraploid genome of C. davyi and the diploid genome of C. speciosa. Clarkia prostrata is morphologically and ecologically very similar to C. davyi but can usually be distinguished by its larger flowers with a spot on each petal. It differs from C. speciosa by having smaller flowers with the stigma not exserted beyond the anthers.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Clarkia davyi is ecologically restricted, mainly growing along the Pacific coast on bluffs and grassy stabilized sand dunes, rarely farther inland. Its range extends from Humboldt and (barely) Del Norte counties in the north through all coastal counties to Santa Barbara County in the south, including Santa Rosa Island.

Clarkia davyi is morphologically similar to the polytypic South American tetraploid C. tenella and appears to be one of the parental species of the hexaploid C. prostrata.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Godetia Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Godetia
Sibling taxa
C. affinis, C. amoena, C. arcuata, C. australis, C. biloba, C. borealis, C. bottae, C. breweri, C. concinna, C. cylindrica, C. davyi, C. delicata, C. dudleyana, C. epilobioides, C. exilis, C. franciscana, C. gracilis, C. heterandra, C. imbricata, C. jolonensis, C. lassenensis, C. lewisii, C. lingulata, C. mildrediae, C. modesta, C. mosquinii, C. pulchella, C. purpurea, C. rhomboidea, C. rostrata, C. rubicunda, C. similis, C. speciosa, C. springvillensis, C. stellata, C. tembloriensis, C. unguiculata, C. virgata, C. williamsonii, C. xantiana
C. affinis, C. amoena, C. arcuata, C. australis, C. biloba, C. borealis, C. bottae, C. breweri, C. concinna, C. cylindrica, C. delicata, C. dudleyana, C. epilobioides, C. exilis, C. franciscana, C. gracilis, C. heterandra, C. imbricata, C. jolonensis, C. lassenensis, C. lewisii, C. lingulata, C. mildrediae, C. modesta, C. mosquinii, C. prostrata, C. pulchella, C. purpurea, C. rhomboidea, C. rostrata, C. rubicunda, C. similis, C. speciosa, C. springvillensis, C. stellata, C. tembloriensis, C. unguiculata, C. virgata, C. williamsonii, C. xantiana
Synonyms Godetia quadrivulnera var. davyi
Name authority H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis: Madroño 12: 36. (1953) (Jepson) H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis: Madroño 12: 33. (1953)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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